Video Games and Desensitization

In response to Emily - full post here

I must confess that it is slightly annoying when people associate all video-games with desensitization. There are many video games which are so obviously disconnected from reality. I don't think that my killing of a peahat (here) from Legend of Zelda results in my being desensitized to some moral wrong; I likely will not mistake a peahat for a human being.

Interestingly, there are some games which sort of push the envelope. Games are becoming increasingly more realistic. Some games, first person shooters, for instance, are becoming very realistic. The Unites States army actually uses the likes of Call of Duty and Modern Warfare to desensitize people to killing. Of course, having signed up for the army, these people are already in the mindset of actually killing people for a living so there isn't really a way to tell how greatly the video game affects them.